A chemistry expert has been experimenting in a hidden lab and has
made a discovery that has provided him with a gateway to another
reality. However, before he can convey any of the information to
anyone else, he is kidnapped and taken to the other side, where he is
being held captive. You must use clues that he has left behind and
follow him to this alternate world, where you will use your analytical
powers -- along with an extensive knowledge of chemistry -- to find
and save him, and free this new world from a power that has bound
them.

I enjoy "edutainment" games. In fact, my interest is often piqued by
what new facts I can learn, whether about history, science, or some
other area. However, I usually enter the playing field of such a game
with the preconception that either the educational value, or the
entertainment value is going to suffer. There just aren't any games
that excel in both areas, right?

Wrong. Chemicus is a stunning example of a game that, in all
respects, scores high in both categories. On the one hand, it is a
fascinating adventure game, with carefully crafted puzzles, wonderful
graphics and sound, and captivating gameplay. On the other hand, the
scientific knowledge of chemistry involved in (and required by) the
game is extensive; and the online encyclopedia of chemistry-related
topics is extremely comprehensive.

Gameplay in Chemicus is fun and intuitive. The player moves
from scene to scene in Myst-like transitions. (There is no
panning in the game.) Cursor icons are fairly simple and assist the
player in determining what actions are available, what directions can
be moved, and so on. Movement between major areas of the game
involves a working knowledge of the periodic table of the elements --
again merging adventure gaming and educational content.

The encyclopedia built into the game is quite helpful in researching
many of the puzzles presented in the game. But even when totally
stumped, there are still several avenues of help. Included with the
games is a complete walkthrough in PDF format, including screen shots
and detailed instructions on completing the game. And if that fails,
Tivola offers a toll-free technical support line that can answer any
questions about the game, or the puzzles involved. (I did have to
make use of the telephone support twice: once when I thought
that there was a bug in the game -- and it turned out to be a very,
very clever part of the puzzle design -- and again when I had simply
overlooked one phrase in the walkthrough, and thought I was at an
impasse.)

The inventory was easy to work with, although at a few points in the
game it became slightly cumbersome, due to the number of items being
carried. That simply meant scrolling through a list of items to
retrieve the desired one -- not a major issue, in any case.

The game provided a good 30 hours of gameplay, even played by two
well-educated adventure gamers. The documentation lists the game as
being applicable for ages "10-102." The degree of chemistry
information required to solve the game (without accessing the
walkthrough), however, would either preclude that lower age level, or
extend the play time considerably. (At a rough estimate, I would have
put the minimum enjoyable age somewhere in the mid-teens --
basically, someone who has completed at least an introductory
chemistry course in school.) One refreshing thing about the game is
that it deserves a clean "G" rating. There is no swearing, no blood
and gore, no violence, no suggestive situations. And perhaps for that
reason alone, it deserves the age rating defined by the publishers.

Playing the game is entirely "safe." There are no life-threatening
situations, and the player cannot die. The worst that can happen is
that you might be stumped at a particular puzzle, and unable to
continue until that puzzle is solved. The game is fairly non-linear
(in that you can move about freely through all parts of this alternate
world); however, the game will not allow you to continue to a point
where you will need something that you do not yet have. Generally,
this involves solving some puzzle, and obtaining some new piece of
information or object (such as a key). The only part of the game that
became a bit linear was the end game -- and yet, the very puzzles that
were being presented at that point had to be linear, due to the
order in which things were being presented and analyzed. I don't want
to present any spoilers, so I will just say that I was not
disappointed in the least by this implementation.

The puzzles in the game are one place where there might be some
contention as to the intuitiveness of the game. Virtually all of the
puzzles involved some aspect of chemistry -- atomic structures,
organic and inorganic chemistry, electrochemistry, acids, heavy
metals, and so on. At times, I felt proud that I remembered my
high-school chemistry enough to solve some puzzles, but at other
times, I was wishing that I had more of a clue as what I was supposed
to do. There were times that the chemical puzzles were a bit esoteric
-- for a novice chemist like myself, that is. (Just how do redox
reactions work? And what is the purpose of fractional distillation?)
I'm guessing that someone with a few more years of chemistry under
their belt would have thought that most of the puzzles were a piece of
cake.

In any case, none of the puzzles were show-stoppers. Since inventory
items cannot be used in the wrong place, it sometimes simply required
going through every item in inventory, and trying it in a given
situation, to see what reaction might result. It's a "trial-and-error"
approach, but without a detailed knowledge of chemistry (on my part),
it was occasionally necessary. In all cases, though, after the puzzle
was solved, it made perfect sense. I can't think of one instance
where I said "Oh, that was really stupid!" But I can recall
many times when I was in awe over the incredible integration of clever
chemistry puzzles with the overall setting of an adventure game.

The overall story line may have been a bit weak, but it served to hold
the pieces of the game together. There was really very little "plot
development," as more attention was given to the graphics, the
puzzles, and general "adventuring."

The graphics in Chemicus are breathtaking. Many other
"edutainment" titles seem to sacrifice things like set design,
lighting and textures, 3D rendering, animation, etc., in favor of
educational content. The end result is often a game that is "dry," or
uninteresting. It is clear that there was a dual emphasis in the
development of Chemicus. The content of the scenes often
rivals that of the best adventure games -- Myst III: Exile,
Schizm, or even Syberia. The attention to detail --
even the most minute detail -- is remarkable, as the accompanying
screen shots show.

The sound effects in the game were just as good as one might expect
from a game of this high caliber. Running water, and other similar
sounds, were not only quite realistic, but panned from side to side,
depending on the orientation of the player's view, enhancing the
overall effectiveness.

As much as I enjoyed the game, no game is perfect. (At least, in the
player's eyes!) There are one or two minor things that I might have
wished were changed in the overall game design. One is that I would
have liked a few more clues for those without a bachelor's degree in
chemistry. Although the online encyclopedia contained all of the
information necessary for completing the game, it was difficult to
navigate. Forward and backward buttons didn't always seem to move to
related pages. And the organization of the encyclopedia required too
much preliminary knowledge of chemistry to allow an inexperienced user
to find things readily.

Another irritation had to do with game saves. Each saved game is
stored as an individual file -- presenting the opportunity for unique
(and readable) names. However, the designers chose to create coded
filenames, and only display the date and time of each save -- not even
including thumbnail screen shots. That made it very difficult to
locate previously-saved games, or to identify which game was saved
where.

Lastly, there are occasional (but rare) appearances by various
characters -- including the scientist you are trying to save. Rather
than use live video, Heureka chose to implement all characters via
computerized rendering. However, these renderings are not nearly as
good as in some other games (e.g., Dracula Resurrection, The
Cameron Files), and, as a result, almost seem to be a detriment to
the game. Thankfully, their appearances are few and far between.

I encountered no software or hardware problems, either in installing
or running Chemicus. The game ran smoothly (although somewhat
slowly, as I had chosen to install the minimal version) in its
entirety. I would highly recommend that anyone with sufficient disk
space perform the full installation. In addition to eliminating disc
swapping, the scene transitions take place much faster when the CD-ROM
doesn't have to spin up repeatedly.

A brief word about disc swapping: Chemicus is distributed on
two CD-ROM discs. For much of the early game, there is very little
disc swapping required. Extensive exploring of new areas allows the
user to stay within a given locale (both in terms of the gameplay, as
well as the CD-ROM being used) for longer periods of time. However,
as the game progresses, there is more and more need to return to areas
formerly explored. I found that this "back-and-forth" increased
dramatically, the closer I got to the end of the game. And,
understandably, that also meant that I was swapping discs at an
increasingly alarming rate. Again, doing a full install can overcome
this, if it becomes a problem.

Chemicus is an entertaining adventure game that will
immediately grab the player's attention. The beautiful graphics are
extremely well-done and realistic, The puzzles will be challenging
enough for the most die-hard adventure gamer, as they are virtually
all unique to the field of chemistry, and not the generic
"one-in-every-game" kind. It is difficult to imagine a better
integration of educational content into the adventure/puzzle genre.